Conclusions
Carpolobia lutea possesses anti-AChE activity and beneficial antioxidant capacity indicative of its potential development as a treatment of Alzheimer's and other diseases characterized by a cholinergic deficit.
Methods
Plant stem, leaves and roots were subjected to sequential solvent extractions, and screened for anti-AChE activity across a concentration range of 0.02-200 μg/mL. Plant DPPH radical scavenging activity, reducing power, and total phenolic and flavonoid contents were determined, and cytotoxicity evaluated using human hepatocytes.
Objective
The objective of this study is to quantify C. lutea anti-AChE, DPPH free radical scavenging, and antioxidant activities and cell cytotoxicity. Materials and
Results
Carpolobia lutea exhibited concentration-dependent anti-AChE activity. The most potent inhibitory activity for the stem was the crude ethanol extract and hexane stem fraction oil (IC50 = 140 μg/mL); for the leaves, the chloroform leaf fraction (IC50 = 60 μg/mL); and for roots, the methanol, ethyl acetate and aqueous root fractions (IC50 = 0.3-3 μg/mL). Dose-dependent free radical scavenging activity and reducing power were observed with increasing stem, leaf or root concentration. Total phenolic contents were the highest in the stem: ∼632 mg gallic acid equivalents/g for a hexane stem fraction oil. Total flavonoid content was the highest in the leaves: ∼297 mg quercetin equivalents/g for a chloroform leaf fraction. At 1 μg/mL, only the crude ethanol extract oil was significantly cytotoxic to hepatocytes.